


Twelve Years and Four Therapists

by Turn_of_the_Sonic_Screw



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Discussion of possible child abuse, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-08
Updated: 2014-01-08
Packaged: 2018-01-07 22:53:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 298
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1125354
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Turn_of_the_Sonic_Screw/pseuds/Turn_of_the_Sonic_Screw
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Martha Jones runs into an old friend.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Twelve Years and Four Therapists

**Author's Note:**

> Set during The Eleventh Hour but nothing terribly spoilery. Possibly mild spoilers for The Big Bang, come to think of it. Child abuse is mentioned in a purely abstract and hypothetical way, but there is no detail and no actual abuse is implied.

“Martha Jones, is that you?”

“Penny!” Martha turned and embraced her former classmate. “How have you been? How is child psychology treating you?”

“Let me tell you over a drink or two,” Penny replied with a grin. “I'm sure you have plenty of stories to swap yourself, even scratching the classified ones.” She winked, and pointed out a nearby pub. “Come on, they've got great oysters here.”

Ten minutes later, the two women were sipping from their pints and trading anecdotes. “Mind, there's one girl right now who I just can't crack,” Penny confided. 

“Really? You were always tops when it came to that sort of thing.”

Penny shrugged. “I'd feel worse about it except that I'm apparently the third specialist this poor child's aunt has taken her to. Can't say I blame the first two for giving up; the little wretch has a habit of biting.”

“Hang on, aunt? No parents or grandparents?”

“No. And what's weirder is that there's no record of any other family, just the one aunt. Strange.”

“Very.” The wheels in Martha's head began to turn. “Could be abuse?”

“I considered that, but the aunt seems clean. Firm, but very devoted to her niece, and no physical marks, malnutrition, or other obvious indicators.”

Martha shrugged. “What exactly is the nature of the ailment?”

“The girl has an imaginary friend, insists that he's real.”

“That's not that uncommon, is it?”

“No, but it's not usually this persistent or this obsessive; the girl is constantly going on about 'Raggedy Doctor this' and 'crashing blue box that.'”

Martha Jones was used to surprises in her line of work, and so did not shower Penny with a mouthful of ale. “I suppose you never accounted for the possibility that the imaginary friend might, in fact, be real?”


End file.
